High-Efficient Rectifier With Extended Input Power Range Based on Self-Tuning Impedance Matching

Abstract

In this letter, a microwave rectifier with a wide input power range is presented by proposing a self-tuning impedance matching (STIM). The STIM consists of a varactor reversely biased by the output voltage of the rectifier to compensate the variation of the input impedance caused by the input power, so that impedance matching is obtained over a wider input power range. For validation, the proposed rectifier at 2.4 GHz was designed and implemented. The experimental results show that the RF-dc power conversion efficiency maintains over 50% and 70% within the input power ranges of 2.5-25.5 dBm and 11-24.5 dBm, respectively. Compared with the counterpart without the STIM, an improvement of 7.2 dB in terms of the input power range when the reflection coefficient is less than -10 dB was successfully demonstrated.